A darkride requires an enclosed structure. It may have open areas, but the majority of the ride remains in the building.

In general, the interior is dark or dimly lit. The lighting that is used could be spotlights triggered by the passing ride vehicle, black light effects, or low-level general illumination.

The dark ride depends mainly on scenery and not the ride system itself to produce the ride experience. Scenery can include simple pop up or boxed gags, stationary or animated figures, paintings, complex animatronic scenes, and special effects.

Sound effects also play an important role in most dark rides. These may range from simple horns and buzzers triggered by the passing ride vehicle, to isolated sound bites for each gag, or to a complex musical score complete with narration.

The ride system uses a track, waterway, or other method of guiding that follows a seemingly random path. In general, the ride system is not a well-known ride type. That is, simply enclosing a Scrambler, or Caterpillar, Trabant, Wild Mouse, Galaxy or other standard type coaster in a dark building would not make it make it a dark ride.